Prior art dispensers for cosmetic preparations such as lipstick are well known. Such dispensers are typically cylindrical structures with a hollow inner body providing a tubular chamber for holding a tube of lipstick, which is fixedly mounted at one end thereof to an elevator cup that moves up and down the chamber to extend or retract the lipstick from an opening in one end of the inner body. One or more lugs on the elevator cup ride in and follow a slot formed in said inner body and extending longitudinally in an axial direction along the inner body length. This slot maintains constant angular orientation between the hollow inner body and the lipstick column mounted in the elevator cup. A cylindrical internally threaded base is mounted on the radially outward side of the inner body, such that the inner body, the elevator cup, and the threaded base all share a common axis. The lug on the elevator cup extends to the inner body slot to be engaged by the threads, such that when the base is rotated about the common axis relative to the inner body, the lug is urged either upward or downward along said chamber by the action of said threads, depending upon the direction of relative rotation, to thereby either extend or retract said lipstick. It is also known to put an aesthetically-designed tubular cover further around the base, a nose piece over the opening in said inner body, and a removable top for capping said nose piece. The nose piece may have an end portion shaped at an angle to the common axis for aesthetic reasons, with the tip of the lipstick column correspondingly shaped. Another reason for the angle in the nose is that it helps maintain an angular shape to the product during consumer use and makes it easier to apply. The high side of the nose piece also helps support the product during use and reduces breakage.
A disadvantage of this prior art assembly resides in the tendency of the lugs on the elevator cup to jump out of the threads or otherwise become disengaged during loading, shipping, and display. Additionally, the various extended or retracted conditions of the lipstick often cannot be reliably maintained for loading, shipping and display.
For example, the lipstick manufacturer typically loads or fills the dispenser when the elevator cup is all the way in the retracted or "down" position. The lipstick tip is then shaped to alignment with the nose piece. Because it may be desirable to visually display a small length of the lipstick column by turning the base a small amount to slightly extend the lipstick, the dispenser is so adjusted and then packed in a blister pack for shipping and later display at a point of purchase. However, during normal impacts of shipping and handling, the elevator cup lugs may jump out of the threads or the cup gets otherwise forced down, resulting in no visual display of the lipstick column.